Shortly before succumbing to tuberculosis in Prague in 1924, Franz Kafka penned a letter to his friend, Max Brod, asking for all his unpublished work—manuscripts, diaries, private letters, sketches, and all—to be “burned unread.”

Kafka died, the letter was discovered, and Brod promptly ignored it. Thanks to him, stories such as The Trial and The Castle, which Kafka didn’t ever want printed, are today celebrated as seminal works of 20th century literature; the author’s name is attired in global renown. But the posthumous publication of Kafka’s work also triggered a convoluted legal battle over who really owns them—as well as an ethical dispute over whether they should’ve been released.

One year ago today, on April 21, 2016, Prince died in his Paisley Park home in Minnesota at the age of 57. The iconic musician has since been caught up in posthumous conflict that is quickly becoming kafkaesque.

NPG Records and Warner Bros. Records will release a multi-disc reissue of Prince's Grammy- and Oscar-winning 1984 album Purple Rain on June 23. The set will feature a handful of previously unreleased songs and a long-unavailable concert film, Prince and the Revolution Live!, recorded in 1985 near the end of the Purple Rain tour in Syracuse, New York.

A two-CD version of the album includes the 2015 Paisley Park Remaster of the original soundtrack "presenting an unheard vision of the album overseen by Prince himself," according to a release announcing the sets. A From the Vault & Unreleased bonus disc has 11 songs from Prince's legendary vault, including rarities such as "Our Destiny/ Roadhouse Garden," the 1983 instrumental "Father's Song," "Katrina's Paper Dolls," "Velvet Kitty Cat," "Wonderful Ass," a 10-minute version of "We Can F--k" and others.

All of the material was mastered by Bernie Grundman, the mastering engineer who worked on the original album.

A three-disc Expanded Edition will include a third disc of Single Edits & B-Sides and the live DVD of the Syracuse show featuring audio and video restored from the original production master tape.

A fan pre-order is live today (Apr. 28) and unlocks an instant free download of the unreleased studio version of the song "Electric Intercourse," recorded in 1983 and previously only heard live.

See the complete track list below:

PURPLE RAIN DELUXE

Disc One: Original Album (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)

1. Let's Go Crazy

2. Take Me With U

3. The Beautiful Ones

4. Computer Blue

5. Darling Nikki

6. When Doves Cry

7. I Would Die 4 U

8. Baby I'm A Star

9. Purple Rain

Disc Two: From The Vault & Previously Unreleased

1. The Dance Electric

2. Love And Sex

3. Computer Blue ("Hallway Speech" version)

4. Electric Intercourse (studio)

5. Our Destiny / Roadhouse Garden

6. Possessed (1983 version)

7. Wonderful Ass

8. Velvet Kitty Cat

9. Katrina's Paper Dolls

10. We Can ****

11. Father's Song

PURPLE RAIN DELUXE - EXPANDED EDITION

Includes Disc One and Disc Two as Listed Above

Disc Three: Single Edits & B-Sides

1. When Doves Cry (edit)

2. 17 Days

3. Let's Go Crazy (edit)

4. Let's Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix)

5. Erotic City

6. Erotic City ("Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive")

7. Purple Rain (edit)

8. God

9. God (Love Theme From Purple Rain)

10. Another Lonely Christmas

11. Another Lonely Christmas (extended version)

12. I Would Die 4 U (edit)

13. I Would Die 4 U (extended version)

14. Baby I'm A Star (edit)

15. Take Me With U (edit)

DVD: Prince And The Revolution, Live at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY, March 30, 1985

NPG Records and Warner Bros. Records will release a multi-disc reissue of Prince's Grammy- and Oscar-winning 1984 album Purple Rain on June 23. The set will feature a handful of previously unreleased songs and a long-unavailable concert film, Prince and the Revolution Live!, recorded in 1985 near the end of the Purple Rain tour in Syracuse, New York.

A two-CD version of the album includes the 2015 Paisley Park Remaster of the original soundtrack "presenting an unheard vision of the album overseen by Prince himself," according to a release announcing the sets. A From the Vault & Unreleased bonus disc has 11 songs from Prince's legendary vault, including rarities such as "Our Destiny/ Roadhouse Garden," the 1983 instrumental "Father's Song," "Katrina's Paper Dolls," "Velvet Kitty Cat," "Wonderful Ass," a 10-minute version of "We Can F--k" and others.

All of the material was mastered by Bernie Grundman, the mastering engineer who worked on the original album.

A three-disc Expanded Edition will include a third disc of Single Edits & B-Sides and the live DVD of the Syracuse show featuring audio and video restored from the original production master tape.

A fan pre-order is live today (Apr. 28) and unlocks an instant free download of the unreleased studio version of the song "Electric Intercourse," recorded in 1983 and previously only heard live.

See the complete track list below:

PURPLE RAIN DELUXE

Disc One: Original Album (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)

1. Let's Go Crazy

2. Take Me With U

3. The Beautiful Ones

4. Computer Blue

5. Darling Nikki

6. When Doves Cry

7. I Would Die 4 U

8. Baby I'm A Star

9. Purple Rain

Disc Two: From The Vault & Previously Unreleased

1. The Dance Electric

2. Love And Sex

3. Computer Blue ("Hallway Speech" version)

4. Electric Intercourse (studio)

5. Our Destiny / Roadhouse Garden

6. Possessed (1983 version)

7. Wonderful Ass

8. Velvet Kitty Cat

9. Katrina's Paper Dolls

10. We Can ****

11. Father's Song

PURPLE RAIN DELUXE - EXPANDED EDITION

Includes Disc One and Disc Two as Listed Above

Disc Three: Single Edits & B-Sides

1. When Doves Cry (edit)

2. 17 Days

3. Let's Go Crazy (edit)

4. Let's Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix)

5. Erotic City

6. Erotic City ("Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive")

7. Purple Rain (edit)

8. God

9. God (Love Theme From Purple Rain)

10. Another Lonely Christmas

11. Another Lonely Christmas (extended version)

12. I Would Die 4 U (edit)

13. I Would Die 4 U (extended version)

14. Baby I'm A Star (edit)

15. Take Me With U (edit)

DVD: Prince And The Revolution, Live at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY, March 30, 1985

1. Let's Go Crazy

2. Delirious

3. 1999

4. Little Red Corvette

5. Take Me With U

6. Do Me, Baby

7. Irresistible Bitch

8. Possessed

9. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?

10. Let's Pretend We're Married

11. International Lover

12. God

13. Computer Blue

14. Darling Nikki

15. The Beautiful Ones

16. When Doves Cry

17. I Would Die 4 U

18. Baby I'm A Star

19. Purple Rain

Just pre ordered this from amazon for £24.99! What a bargain, I'm so excited!

There is a light at the end of the tunnel... hopefully its not a freight train! - Mariah Carey

Throughout his career, Prince was a champion of artistic freedom. But in a horribly ironic twist, when he died on April 21, 2016, without a will, he hadn't put in place a legal, financial or creative road map that would allow his estate to follow a direct, clearly delineated vision.

Last summer, I was brought in by the then-special administrator, Bremer Trust, because of my experience in music publishing, when it was looking to do a global deal for Prince's entire catalog. Prince had signed individual contracts with dozens of sub-publishers around the globe, and there was some clean-up involved; it wasn't about opening a vault and having to blow off the dust, but it still was complicated because of a web of various arrangements.

When I first looked at the music deals, I was surprised at their complexity. Prince didn't just control his own rights; he also controlled those of other writers, including members of his band, The Revolution, and Sheila E.

Here's an example of the challenges that met the estate. As was widely reported, in 2014 Prince withdrew from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) without joining a new performance rights society. That left his performance rights collection without a home. Adding to the complication, his staff had taken over the administration of his music-publishing catalog — but in foreign territories, deals were about to expire at the time of Prince's death. When it was discovered that a vault of unreleased material (kept under lock and key in his Minnesota compound) hadn't been archived or even given a formal valuation — as was the case with the rest of his intellectual property assets — that posed yet another hurdle.

Valuation is crucial. Successful artists such as Prince have various income streams from all sorts of places — music publishers, performance-rights organizations, record labels, name-and-likeness royalties and a host of other sources — and their correct valuation helps determine estate-planning strategy.

Non-lawyers might not realize that there are dozens of potential deal structures, ranging from outright asset sales to short-term administration or distribution agreements, the choice of which should take into account the duration and scope of rights in existing deals, as well as the required income-flow needs. Knowing the correct value of the assets can help guide strategy in choosing the right deal.

As with Michael Jackson's estate, which faced ongoing tax battles after his untimely death in 2009, the greater the value of the assets, the more important it is to have them assessed, so that estate planners can make appropriate suggestions for structuring such things as post-death tax bills. Deals were set in motion by Bremer Trust months after Prince's death; their tax implications could impact the decision to sell an asset outright or bet on its long-term value. Retaining ownership may in turn mean seeking an administrator or distributor to operate the assets.

Without a contractual strategy and financial plan in place, legal and financial decisions often end up being made by third parties, and that can have a lasting effect on heirs and linger for years.

When it comes to music catalogs, prices and "multiples" (the factor by which net annual profit is multiplied to determine a purchase price) have continued to fluctuate over time, and these issues also have to be weighed. Market conditions and new economic components — such as the recent evolution of music streaming services — can have an effect on the value of catalogs, because as revenues increase, so do sale prices. It takes research and professional insight into all these matters to determine the best timing of an asset sale.

On the music-publishing front, in Prince's case the estate chose to have one single global music-licensing partner to administer his assets. While there are pros and cons to choosing a global music partner over an independent company (Prince previously had a host of independent representatives), a global partner helped ensure that the music could be pitched, placed and monetized in a centralized fashion.

More than ever, music monetization is a worldwide game, with administrators and distributors in foreign territories capable of activating market exploitation at the flip of a switch. Global performance rights have become the leading income stream in music publishing, and neighboring rights have grown by leaps and bounds.

Under Bremer Trust, I focused primarily on the music publishing and performance rights associated with Prince's vast catalog, along with the digital rights landscape. Following the appointment of Comerica Bank & Trust N.A. as the estate's personal representative, I'm now focusing on all of Prince's entertainment and intellectual property rights.

As I dive further into helping to preserve and protect Prince's immense artistic legacy — which was guarded by him so carefully while he was alive, and will continue to influence pop culture for generations to come — it's a paradox that his creative rights are influenced by the void of legal or financial arrangements. Other artists, icons and emerging stars alike, should consider careful planning, which can make all the difference.

Prince's estate wants to get into the reality show biz, and that's why it went to war to shut down the release of a new album on the anniversary of his death.

Sources close to Prince's heirs tell us the reality show, featuring family members, is in the works right now, and will focus on how their lives have changed since he died.We're told the family's fighting George Ian Boxill, the producer of the "Deliverance" EP, to keep the music under wraps ... so they can debut it on the show. So, the good news is ... there's still hope the music will see the light of day. The question is when?We're told the reality show is still in early development. They have a production company on board, but no deal to air yet.

Meanwhile, the court has ordered Boxill to turn over the music to the estate, but he's still fighting that.

Paul Sorvino hopes to pay tribute to late music icons Prince and Whitney Houston through his art.

The “Goodfellas” star, who is a trained sculptor, told us he’s in talks with both stars’ estates to create sculptures of them for public display.

“I’d love to do it — we shall see,” Sorvino told Page Six.

A Prince sculpture would reside in Minneapolis, while a Houston piece would be exhibited in her hometown of Newark, N.J. Sorvino, 78, is a longtime Houston fan, and says his wife, Dee Dee, turned him on to Prince’s music.

The actor has done preliminary drawings and studies for both potential works.

New Details Emerge Around Universal’s Move to Nullify $31 Million Prince Deal

Jem Aswad

Senior Music Editor@jemaswad

Further details have emerged around Universal Music Group’s demand to nullify a $31 million recorded-music deal it struck with the Prince estate in February. The details were included in a letter from estate manager Comerica Bank that was posted Wednesday on the Minnesota website housing legal documents related to the multiple legal matters surrounding the estate; the letter has since been removed. The details, which were first reported by Billboard, are significant in that they confirm the $31 million figure sources told Variety the deal was for, and that the company is accusing L. Londell McMillan, one of two former special advisors to the estate, of fraudulent inducement.

Given that we're at least a decade into the era where every classic album imaginable has been released in a 'deluxe' or 'special edition' format at least once, you can be forgiven for regarding the just-released Purple Rain (Deluxe) from the late Prince with some suspicion – particularly since it comes on the heels of his tragic, unexpected death at 57 just over a year ago. After all, Prince never messed around with nostalgia when he was alive -- he was too busy working on the next thing -- and the notoriously secretive artist almost never let fans peek into his creative process.

So it's no exaggeration to say that had Prince lived, we wouldn't have this expanded edition of his landmark 1984 classic Purple Rain in our hands. As strange as that thought is, it also means that this 35-song, 3-disc set isn't padded with 'alternate mixes' or the kind of bonus material that only diehards care about -- it's stuffed with fully finished Prince and the Revolution songs from when the band was at its creative peak. It's fuller picture of the mind of a genius as he worked on what most critics and fans consider his magnum opus. And while these unreleased songs, taken from his basement vault, might not equal the nine that made the cut on Purple Rain, they're still leagues above most music that came out in 1984 – or today, for that matter.

First on the 'From the Vault & Unreleased' disc is the 11-minute "The Dance Electric," an industrial funk jam that wouldn't have sounded out of place on his previous release, 1982's 1999 (especially with the lyric "Better love each other / It's almost time to go" urging people to seek dancefloor pleasure in the face of eternity). And if you thought Prince's "Let Go Crazy" b-side "Erotic City" was dirty, give the 10-minute bedroom odyssey "We Can F—k" a spin (and maybe take a shower afterward). Similarly NSFW is the sprightly "Wonderful Ass," a synth-funk tune that would read as lecherous in lesser hands, but is irresistibly cheeky coming from Prince.

In the pure beauty category is "Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden," a string-laden foray into the psychedelic, pastoral pop Prince would explore on Purple Rain's 1985 follow-up, Around the World In a Day. But the standouts on the 'Unreleased' disc have to be "Possessed" and "Computer Blue (Hallway Speech Version)." On the former, Prince is in James Brown bandleader mode, presiding over a frenetic club track where synths stab out from your speakers as if the hands manning the keyboard are, well, possessed.

As for "Computer Blue (Hallway Speech Version)," we finally have the full 12-minute version of Purple Rain's four-minute fourth track, "Computer Blue." It opens much the same, but by the two-minute mark you can already hear the synths vibrating with barely-restrained, explosive energy. At six minutes, what was once a carefully crafted rock/dance/synth-pop workout has veered into completely bonkers territory, with The Revolution exploring a wild world where guitar licks and electronic loops push up against spoken word segments ("Poor lonely computer / It's time someone programmed you / It's time you learned love and lust," "Father, father / the sun is gone") and a relentless beat. It's obvious why Prince edited it for the album: Purple Rain is a meticulously crafted pop masterpiece, and the 12-minute version of "Computer Blue" is insanity – thrilling and inspired insanity, but far too strange for the final album.

Apart from the unreleased material, the remastered Purple Rain album (disc 1) sounds wonderful ("Take Me With You" shimmers like never before) and the third disc is a helpful collection of Purple Rain b-sides, single edits and extended dance versions that -- unless you have a trove of Prince 45s on vinyl -- you probably don't already have. The best among those is the nearly eight-minute version of "Let's Go Crazy"; like the expanded "Computer Blue," it's the full recording of the edited album version, and it showcases the band indulging in exhilarating, experimental whims.

This is and always will be my fave Prince album. My cousin bought it for me on my birthday. I was only 11 years old lol It changed my life forever. After that,I had to have each of his albums the day they were released. My mom took me to buy them. She loved Prince too. Sign o' the Times in another one of my faves. I had the record with the gate fold sleeve. I still remember just staring at the record sleeve and lyric sheets for hours.

Jay-Z calls Prince's handlers 'greedy bastards' in a fiery song on his '4:44' album

By Chris Riemenschneider

June 30, 2017 — 5:18pm

The thing people were most anticipating about Jay-Z’s new album, “4:44,” is how it responds to his wife Beyonce’s accusations of infidelity on her last record, “Lemonade.” Turns out, though, the lyrics causing the biggest kerfuffle on the new collection – issued Friday exclusively via Tidal and Sprint – are lines written in response to former and current handlers of the Prince estate.

In the Nina Simone-sampling song “Caught their Eyes,” featuring a guest appearance by Frank Ocean, the real-life Shawn Carter calls out entertainment lawyer Londell McMillan by name, questions the remaking of Paisley Park into a museum and throws the words “you greedy bastards” at the estate handlers.

His beef with the estate and its power brokers extends from an ongoing legal dispute over exclusive rights to a good chunk of Prince’s catalog, which Jay-Z claims was given to his streaming company Tidal by Prince himself before his death last year. However, McMillan and other representatives for Prince’s family worked out deals with Spotify, Apple and other streaming companies, thus giving Tidal the shaft.

“I sat down with Prince, eye to eye,” Jay-Z raps in the song. “He told me his wishes before he died / Now, Londell McMillan, he must be color blind / They only see green from them purple eyes.”

And there’s more: “This guy had ‘slave’ on his face / You think he wanted the masters with his masters? / You greedy bastards sold tickets to walk through his house/ I’m surprised you ain’t auction off the casket.”

McMillan, whse work with the estate has also been questioned by some of Prince’s siblings, already responded to the lyrical accusations through Billboard, telling a reporter at the magazine, “I like the beat, but I wonder who he thinks helped Prince to take 'slave' off of his face. It was a homie Jay Z grew up with in the same neighborhood, Londell McMillan.”